


How to (Not) Get Over Your Infuriatingly Hot, Talented, and Funny Ex: A Guide by Sokka

by bittermoons



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Clickbait articles, Getting Back Together, Humor, Legend of Korra cameos, M/M, Music, Pop music, Post-Break Up, We have music! and art!, background mailee - Freeform, gratuitous taylor swift, very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittermoons/pseuds/bittermoons
Summary: “Sure. Whatever you say.” Mai nods and checks her phone, and she creases her eyebrows. “Wait.” She glances at Sokka. “Are you okay if—“Sokka has a bad feeling about this. “Am I okay ifwhat?”The doorbell suddenly rings, and Ty Lee waltzes over and opens the door. “Hi!”Oh my god.Standing there is…He Who Shall Not Be Named. His thick black hair is messy, spiking up at odd angles, and he’s smiling and waving at Ty Lee. It’s a bigger smile than Sokka’s seen on him in ages, both in magazines and in person.--Sokka's epic plan to get over his pop star ex fails miserably when said ex moves back into town and  into Sokka's life.
Relationships: Azula & Happiness, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 44
Kudos: 267
Collections: ATLA Big Bang 2020





	How to (Not) Get Over Your Infuriatingly Hot, Talented, and Funny Ex: A Guide by Sokka

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was an absolute blast to write for the ATLA Big Bang and I had a lot of fun putting it together. Thanks to the incredible mods of the Big Bang for setting this whole shebang up, and thanks to my betas [eliza](turtleduck-vibes.tumblr.com), [isa](warriorcrazy.tumblr.com), and [lucy](houser-of-stories.tumblr.com) for coming along with me for this ride :) 
> 
> We have both music and art that goes along with this fic! (along with a jank header image I had a lot of fun making XD) I will update with links once they are up, but the music is embedded in this fic as well and is composed by the absolutely amazing [Scarlet](srl541.tumblr.com), and the adorable art (to be updated later with the link) is by [belle](pikachica.tumblr.com). Thanks also to shen/[aiyah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiyah/pseuds/aiyah) for kindly letting me borrow your last names for Jet and Suki <33 Thank you for coming along with me for this insanely fun fic!
> 
> Update: Art can be found here! <https://srl541.tumblr.com/post/633180509430775808/video-description-a-short-lyric-video-length> and music here <https://srl541.tumblr.com/post/633180509430775808/video-description-a-short-lyric-video-length>! Please show scarlet and belle all your love!
> 
> Rated T for language, alcohol use, and mentions of Ozai's shitty parenting.

****

**Exclusive Interview With Zuko Lam on Music, Heartbreak, and Next Steps**

[Photo: A black and white photo of Zuko sitting on an opulent armchair on the rooftop of a skyscraper against the skyline of the Bund.]

 **SHANGHAI** — **We managed to snag the first interview with pop star and cutie Zuko Lam in a year for a casual conversation about music and life.**

**You’ve had a busy couple of years—among other things, your father’s corrupt international business practices and what he did to your family pulled you into the spotlight, and you had two singles hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on your last album. How have you been doing?**

To be frank, I wasn’t doing so hot for a while. I never expected to become so popular in the first place—it feels like yesterday when the largest crowds I performed in front of were the ten regulars at Open Mic Night at my uncle’s tea shop every Friday. I pushed away people close to me because I wasn’t ready to handle the media watching my every move, but I’m in a better place now.

**@zuko.lam**

**Feng Chia Night Market, Taichung, Taiwan**

[Photo: Zuko with a bubble tea in hand in front of busy night market stalls with Iroh.]

Caption: creds to **@jetrules**

**208k Likes**

**What’s next? You dropped a surprise single last month that sounded an awful lot like an apology.**

Yeah, I did. I owed someone important to me an apology—I could’ve handled the situation with fame a lot better, and I wrote “Ashes” while crashing in Los Angeles with a singer friend in exchange for cosplaying as a _My Hero Academia_ character at Anime Expo a year ago. The song was for me only, and I didn’t think I’d end up recording it, but it’s out there now. It’s not only an apology. In fact, I’d say it’s more me closing a chapter of my life so I can move forward.

**Ooh, something new, you say? Does this mean you’ll be staying in Asia for the foreseeable future?**

I’m not going to say much about my plans except that I plan on going back to my roots. I have enjoyed my time in Asia and spent a lot of time with my mom and her family, who live in Taipei, and my cousin Lu Ten, who’s based out of Hong Kong and Yokohama. Being here has definitely inspired more music that I’m excited to share.

**Thanks for chatting with us, and we wish you good luck in all your personal and professional endeavors.**

Thanks. [Awkwardly laughs.] I’ll probably need it.

***

_1.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _go to parties where he’s going to be there._

“Happy birthday to Mai! And congrats for getting that new job!” Ty Lee claps and whoops, loud enough that the neighbors downstairs are going to be pissed. “I’m so proud of you! You’re a real boss bitch now.”

Mai’s normally pinched expression loosens up at Ty Lee’s smile. “I’m not _that_ cool.”

“C’mon, we all know how hard you worked to get there,” Sokka says. “You left your job and went back to freakin’ business school of all places, so don’t sell yourself short. Hell, at least you’ll be way richer than me, at least, since I’m a broke-ass grad student who also plays clarinet.” Katara and Suki murmur in agreement.

If you had told Sokka five years that he’d be friends and roommates with Mai in the first place, he would’ve called you crazy. Mai’s the Ex Who Shall Not Be Named’s childhood friend, and she, Ty Lee, and Azula—the Nameless Ex’s ambitious law-student sister—had been absorbed by the Gaang by osmosis. They broke up a year and a half ago when He Who Shall Not Be Named was having a rough time after a highly publicized legal battle with his father and needed space. Which, understandable, but a breakup’s still a breakup.

Sokka definitely spent many late nights playing his ukulele, Appa, singing his shitty acoustic cover of “Low” into the darkness of the night from the apartment balcony. As much as he tried, his music just missed a little something that he couldn’t place his finger on, and no number of apple-bottomed jeans and boots with the fur could help him get out of his funk. But it’s nice that Mai, Ty Lee, and hell, even Azula (though she couldn’t make it today) still hung out with the rest of the Gaang. _I guess that’s what happens when you were best friends before dating._

“Yeah!” Aang nods vigorously. “You’re definitely going to be a future CEO, and everyone here knows it.”

“Uh-huh. Listen to them, Mai!” Ty Lee cuts the cake with her signature enthusiasm, handing Mai a slice.

“Sure. Whatever you say.” Mai nods and checks her phone, and she creases her eyebrows. “Wait.” She glances at Sokka. “Are you okay if—“

Sokka has a bad feeling about this. “Am I okay if _what_?”

The doorbell suddenly rings, and Ty Lee waltzes over and opens the door. “Hi!”

 _Oh my god._ Standing there is…He Who Shall Not Be Named. His thick black hair is messy, spiking up at odd angles, and he’s smiling and waving at Ty Lee. It’s a bigger smile than Sokka’s seen on him in ages, both in magazines and in person.

What the hell? Sokka thought he was on step eight of his ten-step plan to get over his best friend-turned-boyfriend-turned-ex, but then _he_ shows up and knocks him back to step one.

“Holy fuck—it’s He Who Shall Not Be Named!” Sokka exclaims. Both He Who Shall Not Be Named and Mai raise an eyebrow at him. “What? I thought you were supposed to be in Shanghai right now.”

Sokka totally did not keep tabs on his hot, famous ex. Not even a teeny-tiny bit.

“I have a name, you know,” he drawls, taking off his sunglasses. The curve of his mouth is uncertain, and he looks everywhere in the room except Sokka. “Uh—is it okay if I—”

“I don’t care, _Zuko._ ” Sokka crosses his arms. “You’re a big boy, do what you want.”

“You sure?” Toph asks. She and Katara have matching frowns.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” Sokka pouts.

He isn’t made of glass—he can handle seeing his ex. _I am a grown-ass_ ** _adult_** _capable of being the same room with He Who Shall Not Be Named—ahem, Zuko—for a half an hour_ , he repeats to himself like a mantra. Ty Lee, a yoga instructor, would be proud. _I am at peace with the world and myself and Zuko. I will stay so calm that he won’t know what hit him._

Zuko nods at Ty Lee and takes off his shoes at the doorway before coming in. He’s still glancing at the floor when he says, “I got back from Shanghai yesterday. To answer your question.”

There’s a heavy silence in the room as Sokka processes this.

“Welcome back!” Aang leaps over to hug Zuko, breaking the tension in the room. “We’re so happy to have you back for good!”

Wait. This is news to Sokka. Zuko’s back, like, as in, permanently?

Zuko pats his head. “Thanks, Aang.”

“Do you have somewhere to stay while you find a place?”Katara’s tone is slightly wary—she hasn’t forgotten how much the breakup hurt Sokka, and even though she’s friends with Zuko, Sokka is glad that Katara’s always there for him.

“Nah, I’m staying with Uncle, and I’ve already found an apartment.”

Ty Lee and Aang make sounds of excitement. “Is it nearby?” Ty Lee asks. “We _need_ to take you to the new bakery that opened up while you were gone, they’ve got the best egg tarts. Made with lots of love, and the bakery had _great_ feng shui, too.”

Zuko nods awkwardly, and Sokka has to restrain himself from snorting. “It’s in the neighborhood,” Zuko says. “I’m moving a couple of minutes away from the bakery.”

Dammit. Did he _really_ have to move back so close by? Sokka would’ve preferred it if he were somewhere—anywhere else. Why the hell is Zuko here and not where every pop star’s supposed to be?

Sokka lets out a long sigh until Mai side-eyes him from across the room. Tonight was going to be a _long_ night.

*

_2.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _talk to him if you have a choice._

After the party (where Sokka successfully managed to avoid looking Zuko in the eye or talking to him longer than necessary), the next week had been blessedly Zuko-free.

“ _We! Are never, ever, ev-errr! Getting back togetherrrr!_ ” Sokka sings at the top of his lungs while doing the dishes while Taylor’s voice blasts out of the huge Bose speaker Mai’s parents gave her for her birthday instead of bothering to visit in person. “ _You go talk to your friends—_ “

“C’mon, Sokka.” Aang frowns and gives Sokka his best puppy eyes. “You can’t avoid Zuko forever. I can tell you want to talk to him.“

“No, I don’t.”

The next song starts and — oh fuck, it’s Zuko singing about heartbreak — skip, skip, skip. Even _Spotify_ isn’t on his side in his quest to avoid him. Screw their algorithms. “ _I knew you were trouble when you walked in-nn,_ ” he sings.

Aang finds the speaker on the counter and hits the pause button.

“You don’t have to pretend. Zuko’s doing a lot better now, and I think you two should be friends again. You guys were such good friends, and it’d be a shame to let that go.”

“I absolutely do _not_ want to be friends again with him, okay? Not one bit.”

Sokka pulls up a clickbait article from a gossip rag on his phone. He totally did _not_ spend hours on end finding all the articles and studying all the photos on Zuko’s private and public social media to figure out what he’s been up to since Mai’s birthday party last week.

The main photo is a press photo of Zuko on a red carpet for some random inane award ceremony, radiant as ever in a tailored black tuxedo, and standing to the side is a tall guy in the tackiest purple sunglasses and shittiest outfit Sokka’s seen in his life. Seriously, who the actual flying fuck wears a bright orange three-piece suit to a red carpet?

“See this?” Sokka asks, gesturing at the photo.

He hears the slam of a door behind him and turns around to see Mai, who strides over, squinting at the article on Sokka’s phone. “Is this about Zuko?”

“Who else?” Sokka raises his arms in exasperation. “He’s apparently dating this floozy in that citrus monstrosity. Some loser named Jet.”

“Those magazines aren’t always telling the truth. Didn’t they once say that Iroh was quitting the Jasmine Dragon to open a country club in Sacramento?” Mai returns the phone to Sokka. “You should really talk to him, he’s worried you hate—“

The doorbell rings. After a pause, whoever’s on the other side rings it five more times in a span of ten seconds.

“Jesus, stop! I’ll be there in a second,” Sokka says, rushing over to the door. It was probably Toph or Katara. They both lived in the city now, since it was closer to Katara’s medical school and Toph’s job, but they stopped by often. “Hey, what’s up?”

He opens the door to see Zuko there, gaping at him. With a start, Sokka realizes that his phone is still open to the stupid article.

“Uh, you didn’t see anything—“

“Oh, Zuko!” Aang rushes out to give Zuko a hug. “Is everything okay?”

“Ha. Not really.” Zuko scratches the back of his neck. “I have a flat tire and I’m not sure how to fix it. My car’s stuck a couple of blocks away, and I was wondering if any of you knew how to change it out for the spare tire.”

Aang shakes his head, and he looks at Sokka and Mai questioningly.

“Not me,” Mai says. “What about you, Sokka?”

 _Fuck my life._ Sokka actually knows how to use a car jack and change tires, after an incident when he and his dad were on a weekend father-son bonding road trip to Tahoe and had to figure it out using YouTube on the side of the highway. He sighs. He’s an adult, he can do this. He won’t be petty at all. “Fine, fine, I’ll do it.”

Zuko beams at him for a brief second before reverting back to neutral, as if remembering they were exes now. Well, that doesn’t sting at all.

“It shouldn’t take long, sorry about all this.”

Zuko’s right that it doesn’t take long to get to his car, and he helps Sokka open up the jack and the spare tire in awkward silence. As he changes out the tire, Sokka’s more surprised that Zuko is still driving his uncle’s ancient Honda Civic instead of an expensive Italian sports car like all stupidly rich celebrities are supposed to.

The silence is becoming heavy and awkward, so he decides to break the ice with a well-calculated, smoothly delivered line. “Uh…how have you been? Did you…uh…meet anyone…special while overseas? Like someone you _like_ like who wears more orange than Naruto?” _Smooth, Sokka. That was real fucking smooth._

Zuko huffs a sigh. “If you’re asking me whether I’m dating Jet, the answer is an emphatic _fuck no_.”

“Hey, you brought him up, not me.” Sokka nervously laughs. He finishes with the spare tire, and he’s about to help Zuko lift the flat tire back into the trunk when he glances up to see that Zuko’s already done it without breaking a sweat.

“Don’t worry about Jet—he’s only a coworker. And thanks, Sokka,” Zuko says, breaking into a shy smile that makes Sokka’s reptile brain do a victory dance and the sane part of his brain to panic.

“Ha. Ha. No problem at all, bro.” _Ugh, ‘bro’? Could I sound any dumber?_ Sokka straightens himself up and tries to look as cool and casual as possible, adjusting so that he’s standing in a camera-ready pose. Like one of those poses Zuko would strike in _Vogue Japan_ with that incredible makeup that made his cheekbones pop. It wasn’t like Sokka was downloading the pictures or bookmarking the pages. Nothing like that.

Well, okay, he might have downloaded a few. One or two at most to use as his desktop background and to stare at longingly while procrastinating at work. Don’t worry, he changed it after Bato walked into the lab and saw him staring into photo-Zuko’s eyes.

Zuko closes his trunk, clears his throat, and makes eye contact with Sokka as loud cars speed by. “I owe you one. How about we get lunch sometime?”

Sokka fake-coughs to cover up his shock. “Um, no need. I’d rather—“

“How about that pho place you like?”

 _Aww, dammit._ “Fine.” He crosses his arms. He was so _easy_ , for fuck’s sake. He couldn’t resist Zuko’s offer even though he’s trying to channel Taylor Swift. “But only if you follow my Instagram on your official account,” he quickly adds, because he’s an idiot.

“Sure.” Zuko’s smile is small, and Sokka suddenly feels powerful enough to defeat the evil Fire Lord from that kid’s TV show Aang is obsessed with.

***

**Music Producer Jet Zi Denies Ever Having Been Involved With Zuko Lam**

[Photo: A blurry photo of Jet DJing at a crowded nightclub several years ago. He’s wearing glasses indoors even though it’s dark.]

In other news, multiple anonymous sources close to Jet Zi have said the rumors of him being ever romantically involved with Zuko Lam are untrue. Zuko Lam’s huge online fanbase would sometimes speculate whether the two of them had ever dated, with some fans going as far as to ship them (pulling various pieces of ‘evidence’ from press photos and the fact that Zuko is publicly out and has used his fame bring attention to charities serving at-risk LGBT youth), but our sources, who both happen to be close to Jet, claim that Jet has repeatedly denied any involvement.

“Jet said that Zuko has always been hung up on someone else,” one of our sources said. “He’s tried hooking up with Zuko once or twice after drinking too much, but Zuko would always turn him down.”

Looks like the ship dubbed ‘Jetko’ is not to be, but this hasn’t discouraged Zuko’s legions of fans from trying to figure out who the mystery man who broke Zuko’s heart is. Many have speculated that Zuko’s latest single “Ashes” is him directly addressing his mystery man and attempting to apologize for his mistakes. Hopefully whoever it is listens to it, because it’s unfairly catchy for a breakup song.

*

_3.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _have a heart-to-heart conversation with him._

So, Sokka ends up having a mini existential crisis (read: a huge one) and ends up talking to Suki for three whole hours before lunch with Zuko is supposed to happen.

“It sounds like you want to be friends with him,” Suki says when he’s about to text Zuko to cancel lunch for the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes.

“Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be keeping me from doing anything stupid? And doesn’t spending time with my ex count as something _really_ _fucking_ stupid?”

Suki rolls her eyes for the forty-first time in the past hours. “It _is_ really fucking stupid, but I know you’re going to do it anyway, and it’s not the dumbest thing you’ve done.You’ve heard his new song, right?”

Sokka shakes his head. “I’m not listening to any of Zuko’s new songs —Idon’t want to hear him sing about…” _I don’t want to hear him sing about people who aren’t me._

Yes, Sokka is a petty, jealous asshole. That’s what it boils down to — he can’t get over his ex even though it’s been almost two years. Zuko is probably over him already, and that makes it hurt even more.

Suki pats his head to console him. “I think you should.” She checks her phone. “Hey, you need to get a move on if you’re going to be on time for your lunch date.” She wags her eyebrows at him. “But if you have some time, you should give it a listen, yeah?”

*

Zuko isn’t there when Sokka parks at the pho place they frequented in college. So Sokka pulls out his phone, pulling up Zuko’s Spotify and frowning at the photo of his photoshoot-perfect hair that’s messy in all the right ways and that slight smile that reminds him of when he’d make that same face when Sokka would surprise him with birthday parties and In-N-Out animal fries.

He puts in his earbuds and checks the newest song. As a jazz clarinetist, he can say all he’d like about Zuko’s pop trash (even though he _did_ help write some of it in high school and college), but Sokka legit likes the guitar riff of this song — it sounds more stripped back and acoustic than some of Zuko’s peppier numbers.

_I shouldn’t have left you like that_

_Someday, someday, I hope you can forgive me_

_Rather have a friend than_

_Nothing at all, you see_

Fuck. Zuko’s smooth-as-butter vocals coupled with the insanely good music production (props to that orange loser Jet) make Sokka want to bawl his eyes out and tell Zuko that he’s already forgiven him a long time ago. He missed talking to Zuko and texting him about stupid things, and he missed Zuko as a friend as badly as he missed him as a boyfriend, and that realization slams him in the face when he hears Zuko sing about seeing all the sights the world over but not being able to talk about them to who he wants to talk to most.

Sokka’s in the process of rummaging through the glove compartment for a Kleenex for an extended sob-singing session with his old friends Flo Rida and Taylor Swift when a car pulls up next to his—

—and it’s Zuko’s beat-up Honda Civic. Zuko looks at him through the window with a concerned raised eyebrow, and Sokka waves and grins, taking a deep breath before getting out of his car.

“Uh…how’re you doing on this fine day, Zuko?” He awkwardly laughs a couple times to get his point across.

“You okay there?” Zuko puts on a baseball cap and opens the door to the restaurant for him, and they enter.

“Just peachy. Wonderful,” Sokka says, and after ordering his favorite beef pho, Zuko leads him to the table farthest from the window.

“Don’t want people taking pictures.” Zuko’s tone is apologetic.

Sokka can’t believe this is Zuko’s life now: going incognito to get a bowl of freaking pho and selling out concert venues all over the world.

“Dude, I’m sure it’ll be fine. This isn’t, like, anywhere nice. Nobody’ll expect you to be here.”

Zuko smiles. “You’d be surprised. When I was with my mom, we went to a hole in the wall in Shanghai. The owner’s daughter tried talking to me in Mandarin, and oh my god. It was _bad._ ”

Sokka could see where this was going—Zuko’s a native Cantonese and Hokkien speaker and doesn’t actually know Mandarin that well, something he only found out after taking Mandarin classes through high school and college to impress him with his cosmopolitan, sophisticated worldly knowledge.

(Though it did earn him brownie points with Iroh and free tea, and that’s what matters. Plus, Zuko’s face was priceless when Iroh said, “Sokka speaks much better Mandarin than you, so you need to work on it if you’re planning on singing in Mandarin in the future. Be more like him.”)

“Like, I told them I’d chat with her. In Cantonese we’d say _ceoi seoi_ for ‘chatting,’ but in Mandarin, that same expression doesn’t make any sense… _chui shui_ literally means to blow water, right? It was _mortifying._ ”

Sokka cackles, throwing his head back. “Did it end up on the Internet?”

Zuko flushes the same shade as his scar. “Worse. It ended up in the newspapers. ‘Pop Star Can’t Speak Mandarin to Save His Life!’ was the headline for a week.”

It’s funny how easily they fall back into their old friend routine after that icebreaker, and Sokka starts opening up about everything he’s done since Zuko left—he started grad school, and his PhD advisors, Bato and Piandao have been super supportive of him studying indigenous languages in the Americas for his thesis. Zuko nods along and asks about his research, and Sokka launches all too eagerly into a long monologue about linguistics research.

“How about your music?” Zuko asks. “Are you still playing the clarinet?”

“Dude, are you kidding? Of course, I am,” Sokka says. “I mean, I’m not doing it full-time anymore because of school, but I’ve still got gigs at jazz clubs on weekends.” His shoulders slump when he thinks about music and Zuko’s song. “Hey, I think I need to tell you something…I’m really sorry. You helped me a ton back when — you know when we were a thing. You visited Alaska with me, Katara, and Dad, and you would always come to Mom’s grave every year. You even were willing to let Gran-Gran teach you throat-singing, like hell, even I don’t know how to do that. I didn’t realize how much you were hurting from your dad and your music dragging you onto the news every day until it was too late — when you were already planning on leaving for Taiwan, and I should have done more.”

Zuko is silent for a few moments before he puts a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “I was supposed to be the one apologizing to you today, Sokka. I don’t think I realized how not okay I was either until my mom and Uncle stepped in and told me I needed to take a break. I should have kept you more in the loop, and I messed up badly and ended up pushing you away because I failed at communicating. So I’m sorry, and I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me someday.”

Sokka takes an angry bite of his pho. “Look, I messed up more between the two of us—“

“No, it was definitely me,” Zuko says. “I fucked things up more. So much so that I’m not going to be mad if you don’t want to be friends again.”

Sokka gapes. Zuko is being really honest—all that time away must have helped him a lot.

“Dude, why can’t we be friends?” Maybe they don’t have a future as far as a romantic relationship goes after how everything went down, but they can be friends, Sokka’s thirst notwithstanding. “I’m sorry for being a complete dick to you at Mai’s birthday party, I was just surprised. I thought you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”

Zuko waves dismissively. “I shouldn’t have barged in like that, it was my bad…Wait. So, can we be friends?”

Sokka holds out a hand, and Zuko shakes it. “Friends.” He clears his throat. “Uh, Suki and Aang and I are having a jam session tomorrow like old times. If you’re interested, we could definitely use a rockin’ pianist…”

Zuko snorts. “Sure. I’ll be there.”

***

**_Zuko Sighted at Jasmine Dragon and Other Hometown Haunts_ **

[Photo: A blurry picture of Zuko standing in the parking lot to a hole-in-the-wall pho restaurant next to a beat-up Honda.]

Singer Zuko Lam has reportedly been sighted in his hometown getting pho with a friend at a popular spot for local college students and boba at his uncle’s shop, the Jasmine Dragon. According to local reports, business at the Jasmine Dragon has been booming after a fan managed to snag a selfie with Zuko. The singer is currently working on new music to follow up on his surprise hit debut album _Blue Spirit_ that propelled him to the global stage two and a half years ago, and he and his management team has refused requests for interviews or comment on whether this means he’s back from Asia for good.

***

4.) ~~_Don’t_~~ _invite him to any of your clarinet gigs._

Zuko’s classically trained and not jazz, but years of exposure to him, Suki, Toph, and Aang have indoctrinated him so he isn’t half-bad. Or at least, he was before shit went down and he left.

Aang pats Zuko on the back because he seems a little stiff. “You’re going to be great, Zuko! We’ve missed having you around to play the piano.”

“Yeah, Zuko,” Sokka taunts. “And if you mess up, we’ll just make fun of you. No biggie.”

Zuko cracks a smile at that, and with Aang on bass and Suki on saxophone, they start playing. Zuko’s piano playing is a bit stiff at first, too focused on getting each note right to really get into the flow. Sokka finishes a solo he makes eye contact with Zuko to let him know he’s up next, and Zuko scowls at him but takes his riff and runs with it before building on it and moving from chord to chord as fluidly as water. _Hot damn, he’s good._ Zuko’s face is scrunched up in extreme concentration but his fingers dance across the scratched up upright Yamaha like it takes no effort at all.

Sokka’s standing there slack-jawed and almost misses Suki glaring at him to get back to playing, and he misses a couple of notes because he’s too busy watching Zuko and Suki trade fours, building on each other’s music and creating something more complex.

Toph on the drums smirks at Sokka as if she knows what he’s thinking, and his throat is dry when they reach the end and Toph finishes it up with a fancy drum sequence.

“So…how badly did I do?” Zuko rubs the back of his neck.

“Dude, what’re you talking about? You were fucking _fire_!” Sokka raises his non-clarinet-holding hand for a high five.

Zuko’s expression shifts into the beginning of a grin, and it makes Sokka feel warm—no, no, abort, abort, Zuko is only his _friend_ —

Toph snickers. “Yeah, he was staring at you the _entire time_ —“

“Was not!” Sokka puts a hand over her mouth. “Toph’s a liar. Liar, liar pants on fire—”

“—not that I’d know, because I’m blind, ya know?” Toph lets out a laugh, and Sokka rolls his eyes.

Even Suki looks like she’s impressed by Zuko. “That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. You should join us more often, we meet here every week.”

“Wait, really?” Zuko’s eyes flit between them. “You’d all be okay with me showing up? Sometimes crazy fans follow me in public.“

“Of course we would,” Aang says. “And if crazy fans try to follow you, Suki, Toph, and I can use martial arts skills on them.”

Zuko still is looking at Sokka, as if expecting him to object.

“Dude, I’m fine with it.” Sokka gives him a thumbs-up. “Totally!”

On the way out, two giggling undergrad girls ask Zuko for a selfie, and Sokka definitely does not feel a twinge of jealousy. But when Zuko turns back to him and starts talking about cheesy music memes he liked, that feeling dissipates.

Toph and Suki wiggle their eyebrows up and down at both of them, and Sokka may or may not have flipped them off.

That evening, after Sokka gets home, all he can think about is how wonderful it is that he and Zuko are making music again and how much he’s missed it. It’s not the same as before, since too much has shifted since then, but it’s a chance to create something new and hope his pesky feelings don’t get into the way.

*

Sokka starts texting Zuko again, and soon one text turns into another, with him sending the stupidest GIFs he can find and hiding his chuckle every time he’s in the lab and Piandao or Bato is there and he gets a new message or meme from Zuko.

Plus, Zuko starts showing up every weekend to their jam sessions, and sometimes he brings free tea and food from Iroh, which is fantastic since Sokka can only eat so many meals of scrambled eggs and rice before it gets old (hey, that shit is cheap and easy to make, and he’s a broke grad student).

**_Sokka_ ** _set_ **_Zuko’s_ ** _nickname to_ **_big daddy_ ** **帅哥** **_zuko_ **

**_big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** What is the meaning of this?

 ** _Sokka:_** yes

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** What?

 ** _Sokka:_** yes

 ** _Sokka:_** you’re a big daddy hottie shuai ge zuko (don’t kill me too lazy to change keyboards rn)

 ** _Sokka:_** yes this is what seven years of mandarin classes are good for

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** I thought you knew my Canto is way better than Mandarin

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** And you do know 帅哥/shuai ge isn’t used in spoken Cantonese?

 ** _Sokka:_** WHAT

 ** _Sokka:_** NANI THE FUCK

 ** _Sokka:_** no shuai ge in canto??? but what am i supposed to call hot guys now?

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** You’d call a good-looking guy a 靚哥 in Cantonese. Pronounced leng go, you can look up the right tones

 **_big daddy_ ** **帅哥** **_zuko_ ** _set Sokka’s nickname to_ **靚哥** **_Sokka_ **

**_big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** That’s better

 **靚哥** ** _Sokka:_** ty bro i appreciate it

 **靚哥** ** _Sokka:_** you’re a real leng go too wink wink

 **靚哥** ** _Sokka:_** hey wanna see this amazing meme?

Sokka gives in and follows Zuko on his public social media again, and he and Zuko fall back into easy conversation. Sokka knows it’s a dumbass move to keep talking to his ex like this since he still feels funny butterflies when Zuko laughs or smiles. When Zuko asks him to stay after one of their jam sessions to tell him something, Sokka readily agrees despite his prefrontal cortex blaring alarm sirens at him.

“So I was wondering,” Zuko starts, “can I come to one of your concerts? You’ve improved a ton even in the last year, and I want to see you play live, but if you’re not okay with me, I won’t—”

“Bro, of course!” Sokka grins as wide as he can and claps Zuko on the back. “I’m a real professional, as you know, and I won’t be nervous at all if you show up.” At Zuko’s disbelieving glance, he adds, “I have a gig next Saturday evening at that jazz bar downtown. My dad’s going to be playing too, so you’ll have to deal with both of us, and Katara’s coming, too.”

Zuko looks relieved. “That’s fine. As long as you’re okay with it.”

*

“You waiting on someone, Sokka?”

Hakoda looks up from his drum set. “You’ve been nervous today. Real nervous.” He chuckles. “It wouldn’t be because you’re trying to impress a special someone, is it?”

Sokka chuckles, clutching his emotional support clarinet for dear life. Dammit. Zuko still isn’t here yet. “No, not at all, Dad. Just waiting for a friend.”

Katara squints at him. She’s been really busy with med school as of late, and this is the first time Sokka’s seen her in the last month. “A friend? I thought Aang couldn’t make it today because he’s out on that research expedition, Suki’s busy with her friends, and it’s Ty Lee and Mai’s date night. Wait…” A look of realization dawns on her. “Could it be a certain someone whose name is four letters long and starts with a ‘z’ and ends with an ‘o’?”

Sokka crosses his arms. “And what if it is?”

Katara gapes at him.

“Is it that surprising?” Sokka asks.

“Yes,” Hakoda and Katara say at the same time.

“You said you would never be friends with him again.” Hakoda laughs, voice deep and clearly amused. “You burst into the door and swore it while playing thunderstorm sounds on YouTube.”

“Well, sometimes I make mistakes. Hmph.” Sokka pouts. “We’re friends again.”

“Friends?” Katara doesn’t sound convinced.

“Friends,” Sokka repeats. “It’s fine, everything is just fine! I’m not going to make any dumb mistakes—“

He glances up to see Zuko in front of him, eyes darting between him and his family. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Not at all!” Hakoda claps him on the back. “Great to see you back, Zuko! How’s your uncle doing?”

Zuko nods in acknowledgment. “Good to see you, too. Business is booming for the Jasmine Dragon after a journalist said it has the best tea in the area.”

“Great to hear,” Hakoda says. “I’ll have to stop by soon—Iroh promised he’d show me how to use WeChat and LINE. I’m glad you came tonight and that you’ve patched things up with Sokka. He wasn’t doing so hot without—“

“Dad, please stop.” Sokka holds up his clarinet. “We have to finish setting up, so see you after the show.”

The words sound forced and awkward, which is weird because nothing with Zuko was awkward before. It’s like he still doesn’t know how to act around Zuko in person—it’s easier through texts, when he doesn’t have to see the curve of Zuko’s jawline and how his jeans show off his legs—

Hakoda clears his throat before checking to make sure Katara and Zuko aren’t around. “You know, son, you can be honest with me if anything changes between you and Zuko—“

Sokka almost drops the clarinet. “Nothing’s changed! We’re just friends. Ugh, I tell everyone this and _nobody_ believes me.”

Hakoda gives Sokka one of his trademarked _wow, I can’t believe you’re this dense_ looks that Katara unfortunately inherited, and the other musicians they’re slated to play with—Asami, Bolin, and Korra, all of whom Sokka met in jazz band in college (except for Korra, who he’s known for longer because the Alaska Native community was that small locally)— _finally_ show up, and they start playing.

Korra’s great on the piano, but part of Sokka wishes Zuko was on piano instead, and he shoves that thought down into the depths where it belongs.

Once he gets into the zone though, deep into the chord progressions and melodies, he lets the music move him and really knocks a couple of dope-ass solos out of the park.

“Booyah!” Sokka high-fives the crew after they finish up.

“That was so good, Sokka,” Korra says. “You were in the zone back there! Were you trying to impress your pop star boy—”

“They’re not dating,” Bolin hisses to her—way too loudly, considering Sokka is still there and can hear _every damn word._ “Remember? Took a ‘break’ from their relationship?”

“Right. Sorry.” Korra clears her throat, and they all turn at the sound of footsteps. It’s Zuko, and he’s smiling.

“Can I talk to Sokka for a moment?” Zuko’s smiling—holy shit, full-on grinning—and the others glance between Zuko and Sokka like they’re missing something.

“Of course.” Hakoda doesn’t miss a beat. “Wouldn’t want to keep you away from Sokka. Ha!”

“Not helpful, dad.” Sokka rolls his eyes before heading off to a corner of the bar with Zuko. “So. How’d you like it?”

“It was epic.” Zuko’s still grinning. “You’ve improved a lot even in the last year.”

“Aw, shucks.” Sokka rubs the back of his neck. “You think?”

“Yeah. Thanks for letting me come. It was great.” Zuko’s grin is replaced by something more hesitant. “Um…there’s something I was thinking about asking you, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested—“

“Dude, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I have to head down to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks. I was thinking about making it a short vacation since Azula also goes to law school down there now. Do you want to, uh, come with me? I’ve already asked the others–Aang, Toph, Mai, Ty Lee, and Suki are all coming, but Katara says she’ll only come if you do.”

Sokka’s jaw goes slack. That was not what he expected at all—he and Zuko’s friendship has reached Level Five again. He almost drops his clarinet but manages to catch it in time.

“Hell yeah.” He’s internally swearing at himself for not thinking this over. Piandao and Bato wouldn’t care, but all of his non-reptile brain is screaming at him to stop even as Zuko beams at him in happiness.

“Great.” Zuko sounds breathless. “I can’t wait.”

*

_5.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _go on vacation with him._

“Hey Yue,” Sokka says on the phone. “Help. Please.”

Yue, his high school ex, is studying at the Sorbonne now because she’s fancy like that. France happens to be far, far away from Sokka’s problems, and Yue is good at advice—better even than Aang, who’s currently Sokka’s second most trusted dispenser of important life advice.

“Oh, Sokka,” she says. “What did you do this time? Did you sleep with Zuko or something?”

Sokka makes a strangled sound. He wasn’t _that_ stupid. Zuko may be hot as fire, but some things are off-limits. Because they’re _friends,_ and platonic bros don’t think about how to ask their exes out. That would violate the most important First Commandment of the Bro Code—much more important than the Second Commandment, which is Thou Shalt Not Kill Or Betray A Bro When Playing Video Games Together (Sokka has violated the Second Commandment one too many times while playing Smash, but only because Aang started it).

“Uh…I _may_ have agreed to go on vacation with him—“

“You did…what?” Yue, the most composed and dignified person Sokka knows, is at a loss for words.

“I said, I might have agreed to accompany Zuko for a weekend trip down to LA because we’re bros now, and I’m really dumb because I _might_ still have feelings—“ Sokka inhales so loudly he knows Yue can hear. “You can ignore that last part.”

“So you and Zuko talked everything out?”

“Yeah, and we’re friends like I said. Just bros. Sure, I text him more than a hundred times a day, but it’s totally platonic. I promise.”

Yue pauses. “Sokka, you’re definitely not making the wisest of choices but maybe it’s not a bad thing that you’re going with Zuko to LA. You were good friends before, well, everything.”

That is true. Sokka and Zuko were thick as thieves before dating—they had first met through music competitions even though they went to different middle schools, and since they played different instruments, they didn’t see each other as enemies, though Sokka was sure Zuko disliked the way he enjoyed riling him up when both were waiting in long hallways to play next for judges. Then there was a six-month period when Zuko disappeared off the face of the planet and came back with that nasty scar and his left eye nearly blinded, and the newspapers reported that it was such a loss that the piano prodigy wouldn’t be able to play anymore since he lost much of his peripheral vision in his eye.

His father had been arrested for insider trading, of all things, and not almost blinding his son and making it so his daughter needed years of intensive therapy at such a young age. Sokka still rages at the injustice of it all.

But Zuko kept playing, and with Ozai gone, started posting videos of him singing to YouTube—originally for his sister to watch while in treatment, but when Sokka and Aang heard about it, they pressured him into making his channel public. Sokka remembers making fake accounts to follow Zuko to boost his subscriber count, and how all his songs were honest, stripped back, just Zuko and his guitar and sometimes a catchy beat. Sokka would sometimes help write melodies—he’s an instrumentalist and will always be garbage at lyrics, but chords and melodies are things he gets, and they would hang out at boba places nearby to write songs to perform at Open Mic Night.

Then Zuko blew up and became so big he got a record deal. He even dropped out of college after a semester because he couldn’t juggle it all. Sokka was terrified he wouldn’t see him anymore and accidentally confessed, and the rest was history.

They were happy, everyone was happy for them, and Azula was doing a lot better, too. Everything was great for a few years…until Ozai was released early due to the justice system being shitty and Iroh coming up with enough evidence to send him to jail for child abuse, and all of the sudden, Zuko wasn’t okay. The court cases, Zuko’s hit album and the media spotlight, everything—all of it happened so fast it’s no wonder he needed a break. Sokka’s grateful that Zuko wants him to be a friend even after all the shit went down.

“So you’re not going to try to talk me out of this?” Sokka gasps in disbelief. If Yue said it must be true, she must be right. She’s lived in France for long enough that she for sure has Super French Romance Powers.

“Even if I did, it wouldn’t stop you, wouldn’t it?” Yue huffs a sigh. “Have fun on your trip!” She giggles a bit before hanging up.

*

“So we’re flying economy?” Sokka pouts. “Thought Mr. Rich Pop Star here could bankroll first-class tickets for the rest of us broke-ass plebs. Why couldn’t we have taken the bus?”

Katara elbows him. “Don’t be rude, Sokka. And we couldn’t take the bus because the record company needs Zuko to fly in.”

Zuko snorts. “He’s fine. You do realize the flight literally only takes an hour?”

“I hate flying, that’s still an hour too long.” Toph’s pout matches Sokka’s.

“You’ll live without your free in-flight booze and extra three inches of legroom, Sokka. And who said I was paying? I’ll charge you guys on Venmo—”

“Man,” Sokka says. “And here I thought I could get a free vacation out of you. Dammit.”

When they land in LA and make it out of the airport and into the palm-tree dotted roads, the first thing Zuko does is take them to meet up with Azula at a Korean tofu restaurant. Ty Lee tackles Azula in a huge hug, and Mai awkwardly pats her on the shoulder. After they part, Azula’s gaze between Sokka and Zuko, and her eyes gleam with some newfound secret evil knowledge.

Azula smirks, crossing her arms with the finesse of a cartoon villain. “I see what kind of game _you’re_ playing.” She points her chopsticks at Zuko and then Sokka. “You’re playing with fire, Zuzu.”

“I’m not playing at anything,” Zuko says, in between stuffing tofu soup into his mouth, “and please don’t call me that.” Sokka snorts—if he remembers correctly, Azula’s phone contact for Zuko was ‘小Zuzu-chan.’ Zuko, on the other hand, doesn’t look quite so amused. He points his chopsticks at Azula accusingly. “Don’t laugh, Sokka. And Azula, what happened to that hot dancer neighbor you were talking about?”

“Yeah, Azula!” Ty Lee chirps. “What happened? You said Miruko was a celebrity or something.”

“Hmph.” Azula pouts. “Turns out she ended up moving out with her girlfriend to somewhere bigger. But guess who ended up moving in?”

Ty Lee’s eyes are huge. “Who? I want to know.”

“Let me guess—some washed-up Hollywood has-been,” Sokka interjects, and Azula glares at him like he’s an idiot. “Speaking of which, can we go to Disneyland?”

“Can we not?” Katara asks. “I’d rather go to Universal, and neither Toph, Suki, or Aang have, either.” The others make noises of agreement.

“I’d be down for either,” Ty Lee says.

“I’ll go where Ty Lee goes.” Mai isn’t breaking a sweat even after picking the spiciest option on the menu, and Sokka is secretly impressed.

“The new neighbor is Kyoshi from the Avatar Network,” Azula crows. “She’s one _fine_ specimen of womanhood. Anyway, I’m getting off-track. Zuzu, you should take Sokka to Disneyland, and the rest of us can go to Universal.”

She shares a look with Zuko that Sokka can’t read but looks a lot like the _don’t be stupid_ glances that Katara would sometimes send him.

Zuko scrunches up his face at Azula. “Fine.” Turning to Sokka, he smiles and adds, “I haven’t been to Disney in years, so we’ll have some fun.”

If that’s the case, why does Zuko sound almost nervous? There’s nothing to be nervous about, right?

“Yeah, of course we will.” Sokka gives him a thumbs-up and his best reassuring grin.

*

“Look, Zuko, look!” Sokka points at the Mickey Mouse ears they’re selling. “We should get these. You’d look great!” Sokka’s secretly thinking about how funny the pictures would be for the Gaang group chat.

“No way.” Zuko crosses his arms and adjusts his large sunglasses so that it covers his scar when a large group of people passes by. “Ugh. That’d look _so_ stupid.”

“I dare you,” Sokka singsongs, holding it up. “Bet you can’t pull off one of these, Mr. Vogue Top Model—“

Zuko yanks it out of Sokka’s hands. “Oh yeah? I bet I can. Bet _you_ can’t, though.”

“Screw you. Guess what? I pulled off my last-minute cardboard alien Halloween costume last year, I can definitely pull off some stupid furry mouse ears.” Sokka grabs another pair off the shelf and marches over to the closest mirror, trailed closely by Zuko. He has to stifle a snort because paired with the sunglasses, Zuko with Mickey Mouse ears is nothing short of adorable.

“You laughing at me?” Zuko scrunches up his nose, which does funny things to Sokka’s weak, weak heart, and if they were dating, he’d kiss him there—no, stop it, Zuko’s just a friend.

“Nah.” Sokka pulls out his phone even as Zuko makes an attempt to grab it out of his hands. He snaps a blurry photo and sends it to the group chat, which is soon flooded with heart-eyes from Ty Lee and Aang and _Not bad, zuzu ;););)_ from Azula.

They end up almost getting kicked out of the shop for being loud, and afterward, Sokka makes Zuko ride all the fun rides with him even though he hates roller coasters and take _way_ too many silly pictures. After they’re done, Sokka takes pity on Zuko and buys him an ice cream for his trouble.

“So, did you like Disneyland?” Zuko asks, and Sokka looks up from his sundae.

“Yeah, it was fun. It was nice of you to go on all those roller coasters with me. Ha! Hope you’re not too rattled.” Fuck. Could Sokka be more obvious? He might as well have said _Dude, I like you a ton—no homo, of course._

Zuko’s gaze bores into Sokka as if searching for something, and Sokka has to slap himself lightly to remind himself that this is most emphatically not a date.

Zuko laughs, confused. “You okay there, Sokka? You look like you’re trying to exorcise demons or something.”

Sokka shakes himself out of it. “I’m fine, everything is fine.” He takes a large bite of his sundae and immediately regrets it when a jolt of cold punches him. “Argh, it’s so cold!”

Zuko chuckles, and soon he’s laughing so hard he’s on the verge of tears.

“Hey! Don’t you dare laugh at me, you—you little—“

Zuko stops laughing, and Sokka turns around to see a group of high school kids.

“Uh…are you Zuko?” a boy asks. “Sorry, but can I…”

Zuko nods, still polite despite the circumstances, and Sokka is annoyed on his behalf. They weren’t doing anything, but how dare these ignorant children interrupt them. Being famous sounds pretty sucky, especially for a private guy like Zuko, and Sokka feels bad for him, since he’s had to deal with this for the last couple years.

He feels really bad for once using that against him in an argument—he’d said pretty shitty, hurtful things about Zuko being so famous he didn’t have time for him and their friends anymore, and if he could go back in time, he’d slap himself for his stupidity. If only he had known.

“Yeah, I’ll take a selfie with all of you,” Zuko says.

“Oh man, thanks! This is awesome, we’re visiting from Arizona—this’ll be such a good story!” The kid hands Zuko his phone, and Sokka waits for them to finish up.

“Um, Zuko, I need to tell you something,” Sokka starts. “I’m sorry.”

Zuko stares at him for a moment before scratching his hair. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Oh, good point. That must have sounded out of the blue for Zuko.

“Before—before you left, I said pretty mean things about how you didn’t care about me and our friends anymore because you became too busy and too famous.” He pauses to catch his breath. “They weren’t true. I was just frustrated that you were becoming more closed off and stressed out because you weren’t getting enough sleep and weren’t talking to any of us. I should’ve apologized sooner.”

“You were right, though.” Zuko finishes up his ice cream and looks Sokka in the eye. “I was scared—I know, stupid, right? I was scared that because I was suddenly famous and everyone wanted something from me, you and our other friends wouldn’t want anything to do with me anymore, and all the stuff with my shitty dad–that was just icing on the cake. So I should be the one sorry. I ruined what I had with you and disappeared off to the other side of the globe to figure things out when I should have–I should have just reached out for help. I didn’t figure that out until I missed our jam sessions and Saturday Gaang dinners while with my mom in Taiwan…She told me it wasn’t too late to fix everything, so I came back as soon as I could.”

“Wow.” Sokka sighs. “I’ve probably apologized for this before, but I’m sorry for fucking up and not seeing how much you were hurting. I promise to do better next time…if something like that happens again. I’m very glad you came back, by the way.” _You idiot, you’re going to scare him off with your stupid feelings._

Zuko doesn’t seem to notice, instead only nodding and adjusting his sunglasses so Sokka can’t see his expression clearly. “So am I.”

*

The next day, Azula takes them to Hollywood, which is a quintessential tourist trap, but it’s still quite fun. Zuko isn’t there, though, since he had to leave for a writing session, and now Sokka is subject to all his friends making fun of him for his and Zuko’s ‘date.’ Hell, even Azula’s making fun of him.

“There was no _date_. We aren’t even together, thank you very much, and there’s nothing to talk about,” Sokka insists, waving his arms dramatically and almost hitting someone.

“Uh-huh,” Katara and Aang say—wait, why are they so in-sync?

“There really wasn’t!”

Mai rolls her eyes dramatically. “…and I’m a New Zealand sheep farmer,” she says with little intonation, and Ty Lee giggles.

Azula crosses her arms in that cartoon villain way and shakes her head at Sokka with a weird grin that makes him feel like she knows something he doesn’t. “Looks like I don’t need to set up Zuzu with that edgy dancer guy with the blue flame neck tattoos I bumped into at Starbucks.”

Ugh. Sokka likes the sound of Zuko and an edgy bad boy dancer even less than he likes the sound of Zuko and Jet together. But Zuko with red flame neck tattoos running up the curve of his throat—damn, that would be _something_. Sokka suppresses the urge to whistle.

“Didn’t you tell us the Hot Topic dancer guy turned out to be not-single, anyway?” Ty Lee giggles. “Zuko should get tattoos like that...like a dragon tattoo or something! It’ll make him real popular with the guys. now that he’s too famous to use dating apps.”

She wiggles her eyebrows at Sokka, and he can’t sass her because she’s Ty Lee—even though he’s tempted to for a hot minute. So he counts to three and takes a deep breath, following the most useless advice ever for not murdering his friends with the power of his acidic wit.

Thankfully, Toph pats Sokka on his shoulder, and he’s glad for her support until she opens her mouth. “I can tell you’re lying about it being not a date, but I’ll be nice to you this time.”

Sadly, they don’t have a chance to see Zuko until the airport, and when Zuko gets there, he looks dead tired and almost falls asleep as soon as they get on the plane.

“Wrote a couple new songs today.” His grin is wide, really wide, and Sokka can tell he’s happy with the music. “I’m really excited—it’s the fastest I’ve written so many new songs.”

“Awesome,” Sokka says, ignoring the way his heart is pounding faster at how handsome Zuko is even under poor plane lighting. “So when can I hear it?”

“Open Mic Night, maybe.” Zuko closes his eyes and falls asleep almost instantly, and Sokka pats him on the head before remembering he needs to keep his hands to himself around Zuko.

***

**@zuko.lam**

**Disneyland**

[Photo: Zuko posing extremely awkwardly with Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom. He distinctly looks like he doesn’t want to be there.]

Caption: Mickey (photo creds: secret)

**225k Likes**

**Comments:**

**@jetko4life** was it Jet that took the photo? heehee

 **@zuk0stan** wait was it Mystery Man? Jet posted something about Zuko writing new music about Mystery Man

 **@aangster** You look great Zuko!!!

 **@sokkas_incognito_acct** Bro u are so awk

 **@mai.ng** sokka, your handle...smh

 **@sokkas_incognito_acct** come at me bro **@mai.ng**

***

**Breaking: Heartthrob Singer Zuko Lam Sighted Enjoying Disneyland With Old Friend. Or Are They More Than Friends? Read on to Find Out!**

[Photo: Blurry shot of Sokka and Zuko eating ice cream taken from a profile view.]

Breaking news!Zuko has set the Internet on fire with speculation by going on a Disneyland outing with this guy here. His rabid fans have done some digging (see here for more on the insane lengths they’ll go to dig up this info) and discovered that the guy in question is most likely Sokka Ayuluk, who is a current PhD student studying computational linguistics and one of Zuko’s oldest friends. His name appears in most of Zuko’s YouTube videos from when they were in high school, and he even makes cameo appearances in some of them (see here, here, and here). Given the size of Zuko’s fanbase and the nature of their relationship, this will probably fuel at least one novel-length friends-to-lovers fanfic about them.

Sokka’s website has an impressive list of publications and research interests, and he is also an accomplished musician—he double majored in jazz performance (focusing on the clarinet) and computational linguistics as an undergrad. He even took a year off after graduating to focus solely on his music before going to grad school, and his father is Hakoda Ayuluk, a well-known symphony percussionist in the classical music world who has been working on promoting music from Native American and Indigenous communities.

Indeed, some fans are theorizing Sokka is the Mystery Man that Zuko keeps singing about—Zuko has mentioned the color blue (see Sokka’s website and all the photos—he’s always wearing blue!) and playing music together in more than one of his songs. The title track of Zuko’s album _Blue Spirit_ talks about visiting the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore with someone important at night, and fans have unearthed Sokka’s blog from when he spent a semester studying abroad in Singapore; the following excerpt is from his blog:

“I flexed my superior Mandarin skillz on You-Know-Who (Guess what he told me? ‘It’s Singapore, it doesn’t matter since everyone speaks English.’ Guess what sounds like? A sore loser). He’ll remain unnamed here to keep Google’s bots from scraping his name and his YouTube fans away from _my_ virtual territory, but if you know, you know ;) We went to the Gardens by the Bay and stared into each other’s eyes lovingly with the flickering lights of the Supertrees in the background while rubbing our successful relationship in the faces of all the sad single saps there.”

Folks, we think that the excerpt stands for itself.

If that isn’t enough, remember the song “Blue Spirit” where Zuko sang “You called me a blue spirit under the shimmering lights/then we sang about stupid trees until late night”?

We’ll let you, dear reader, connect the dots, but there is nothing remotely heterosexual about either the song or the blog.

***

When Sokka gets back to the lab, Bato wants him to look at some new ‘fresh, juicy data’ Haru obtained, and a week goes by where he’s just coding and reading papers and running scripts. He doesn’t even have time to go jam with the rest of the Gaang or practice his clarinet for the entire week, let alone see Zuko, who’s been busy with his music. After he falls asleep on the Gaang House (what they’ve lovingly nicknamed his apartment) couch, Katara has decided to stage an intervention.

Katara shows up with the tea he asked her to bring him. Ah, the Jasmine Dragon really did have the best boba—their lychee black tea hits the spot.

“Sokka, you need to get eight hours of sleep every night. You also haven’t checked any of your texts in the past week.”

“Oops, sorry, Katara,” Sokka says. “Got too caught up fixing bugs.”

She sighs. “Seriously? Sokka. You _need_ to check your messages. ASAP.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll do it now.” Now that he’s been properly caffeinated with Iroh’s amazing tea, he pulls out his phone and sees the top text is a link to a trashy gossip rag. He clicks it, wondering why Suki sent the article—

 _Oh my god._ Is that a photo of him and Zuko at Disneyland? Of when they were eating ice cream? Taken from an angle where the entire world can gaze upon Sokka staring lovingly into Zuko’s eyes while Zuko’s saying something stupid?

Sokka reads the article title—“Heartthrob Singer Zuko Lam Sighted Enjoying Disneyland With Old Friend. Or Are They More Than Friends? Read on to Find Out!”

He almost chokes on a boba pearl and yelps. This is _no bueno._ Absolutely catastrophic. A sign of the impending Armageddon. Fuck.

He now knows exactly how the dinosaurs must have felt sixty-five million years ago when they saw a pretty shooting star overhead and didn’t realize it was the beginning of the end of almost two hundred million years of world domination, and it sure doesn’t feel good.

“Sokka, you okay there?” Katara looks like she’s about to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on him.

“Just peachy,” he says, putting down his boba. This is terrible. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Katara crosses her arms. “What do you mean?”

“Like, I ruined our burgeoning friendship with my stupid feelings because I can’t freaking get over him.” The words come out before he fully realizes Sokka’s just told his sister about his secret homosexual urges for Zuko, and he facepalms in embarrassment.

“What kind of person uses ‘burgeoning’ in a sentence? I already knew that you’re hot for Zuko, although I never want to hear you say ‘homosexual urges’ again, either.”

Oops, he must have said that out loud.

He clears his throat and tries to recover. “Do you think Zuko will want to be friends after”—he gesticulates wildly—“all this? All the reporters all know that we’re more than friends.”

Sokka opens up his social media and finds that he has over a thousand follower requests on Instagram. Even crazier, his Twitter suddenly has several thousand followers after being stuck at a hundred for ages. The profile pictures are mostly singer photos and Kpop stan accounts. His DMs are filled with spam messages and crazy messages. He scrolls through a few, and there’s everything from people congratulating him for bagging a pop star, people complimenting him on his mad clarinet skills, people telling him to stay away from Zuko, and the occasional homophobic or biphobic comment.

“Holy shit.” He lets out an extra long whistle.

Katara glances over his shoulder. “ _Yikes._ ”

Sokka turns to his sister. “I have to deal with this pronto. This is a Code Red. I might be a D-list celebrity now—boy, this will be fun.”

“I have to go study for a test coming up, but you’ll talk to Zuko, right?” Katara scratches her hair. “Seriously, Sokka. He might be able to help you, since he has experience with crazy fans.”

“Will do, will do,” he says while locking down his Twitter.

He sighs.

What’s he going to say to Zuko? _Hey, I might still have an Antarctica-sized crush on you even though you’re over me, sorry about tainting your good name with the tabloids. I’ll buy you more ice cream to make up for it, bro._

That isn’t going to cut it, and he knows it.

*

 _6.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _panic and ghost him for two weeks after your face is in all the tabloids._

So Sokka doesn’t end up talking to Zuko, instead focusing on a draft of a conference paper Piandao says he has a couple months to finish about a framework he helped make to analyze different Yupik dialects in a novel way using fancy algorithms. He ends up deleting his Instagram and keeping his Twitter locked, and he’s avoided being in public when necessary, instead only living in the lab and at the Gaang House, leaving Aang to do the groceries by himself. Katara, who’s been busy with whatever they do in med school, hasn’t had time to stop by, and Hakoda buys his excuse that he’s busy, but he follows it up with a text that says— _if work’s rough or you need anything, just let me know, okay?_

Worst of all, he hasn’t answered any of Zuko’s increasingly desperate texts. Sokka is a shit friend and he is well aware of it.

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** Hey sokka, are you ok? I’ve told my agent and PR manager to take those photos down and to tell the press to stay away from my friends

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** Did I mess up?

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** Tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it

 ** _big daddy_** **帅哥** ** _zuko:_** Look, Sokka, I want to know where I fucked up. If you don’t want to talk to me anymore, fine, but at least talk to someone about it. Trust me on this. It’s a bad idea to keep these things to yourself

 _It’s not you, it’s me, buddy,_ Sokka thinks.

He wishes Zuko would get the message that maybe they shouldn’t be friends anymore—it was a mistake to say yes in the first place since he _knew_ he still had feelings for his ex.

How could he not, when they’ve known each other since they were twelve? They’ve been making music together since freshman year of high school, when he approached Zuko to be his piano accompanist in a big solo woodwind competition even though his scar was still fresh and his vision in his left was touch-and-go at best.

He remembers how Zuko’s face lit up and how in-sync they were performing and how happy Zuko was when Sokka won for his grade level, beating out his then-girlfriend and prodigy clarinet player Yue. She broke up with him soon after because she knew they wouldn’t work out and she wanted to focus on getting really good at French to follow her dreams. He had been devastated, but least he had Zuko to make music with.

He opens a new tab and starts watching all their practice videos and old YouTube videos, the ones marked private so the public can’t see them.

He and Zuko look like they’re having so much screwing around with weird ukulele chords that sound like a godawful racket but Zuko’s smooth vocals somehow make them work. All the hours they spent looking up the weirdest rhymes for lyrics and improvising catchy tunes. Before he knows it, he’s spent two hours running through all the videos, and Sokka can’t contain a sad smile when he gets to the most recent videos–him on his ukulele and Zuko on his guitar a few weeks ago trying to recreate Taylor Swift. Zuko’s rendition of “Shake It Off,” was, in Sokka’s humble though blasphemous opinion, even better than Taylor herself.

The shittiest part is that there’s Open Mic Night at the Jasmine Dragon in a couple hours, and Sokka had been looking forward to hearing Zuko’s new music. And, of course, he basically shot himself in the foot again because of his stupid feelings.

Sokka shakes himself out of his funk. He needs to put the past behind him—well, maybe after one more video. Despite everything, Sokka knows he still wants to be friends with Zuko. They’ve been friends so long it’d be weird not to and they’ve been through too much life together. But he can’t see _how._ Not when he still can’t let go.

Someone’s banging on his bedroom door. “Open up, it’s Katara! I know you’re in there, Aang and Ty Lee said you’ve been moping and playing angsty clarinet music all weekend.”

He sighs and rolls out of bed to get the door. It’s Katara—not just Katara, though. She’s accompanied by Suki, whose hands are on her hips.

“You look like shit,” Suki says, and Katara nods in agreement.

“I know.” Sokka scowls and crosses his arms. “I’m sure you know _exactly_ why.”

“Sokka, you’re coming with us.” Katara’s tone is firm, and Sokka knows he’s not escaping whatever this is. “You _need_ to fix this. We’re going to get dinner and Open Mic Night—“

“No, we are absolutely _not_ going to Open Mic Night.” Sokka shakes his head. “There’s no way Zuko’s going to want to see me after seeing those pictures and after I’ve tarnished his sterling reputation.”

Katara pulls him towards his bedroom door. “First of all, you haven’t tarnished Zuko’s reputation. Second of all, you also _need_ to talk to him or else Azula is going to sue you for emotional damage on behalf of Zuko.”

Sokka gulps. He’d rather not face Azula in court, that’s for sure. She’d dig up all his most embarrassing high school stories and use them against him. He can see her present the video of him chugging a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino in thirty seconds in high school as evidence of how he’s traumatized Zuko for life (it was only for a dare!).

“And Open Mic Night’ll be the perfect opportunity.” Suki holds up her car keys and holds up Sokka’s precious clarinet and ukulele. “C’mon. Or else I’ll take your clarinet and Appa hostage.”

“Not my clarinet! Bro, that’s not cool.”

Welp, he doesn’t have a choice except to come with them, doesn’t he?

*

 _7.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _go to Open Mic Night at his uncle’s tea shop._

Suki, Katara, and Sokka end up pulling into the Jasmine Dragon’s parking lot fifteen minutes late—long lines at the ramen restaurant delayed them.

“Aang, Toph, and Mai are stalling for you.” Katara texts the group chat to let them know they’re here and a flurry of thumbs-ups appears on the screen as their friends read the message.

Now that he’s here, he's starting to get cold feet. “What am I supposed to say to Zuko? Is he even going to want to talk to me?”

“You need to come clean,” Katara says. “And yeah, Zuko’s been a miserable sad sack the last couple of weeks, so I bet he’ll want to talk to you.”

With a deep breath, Sokka pushes open his car door and follows Katara and Suki to the inviting front door of the Jasmine Dragon with the golden dragons and lights on inside—it didn’t seem too crowded tonight, probably only the regulars were here. He glances back at Suki, noticing for the first time that she has his ukulele in her hand.

Suki hands him his beat-up tenor ukulele, the one that Zuko gave him for his sixteenth birthday. It's worn down and old, but he doesn't have the heart to replace it. “Take this, Sokka. May the Force be with you, and good luck.”

Sokka accepts the ukulele and quickly double-checks to make sure it’s in tune. It’s close enough—the G string is a bit off, but not enough that he’s going to bother tuning it again.

He closes his eyes before pushing open the chrome-and-glass door.

Before he opens them again, he hears Mai singing and someone playing guitar accompanying her. Without looking, he knows it’s Zuko because of how careful each chord and note is.

One note is just a tad late, and Sokka knows he’s caught Zuko by surprise—

He opens his eyes to see Zuko staring at him, wide-eyed, as the small audience claps for Mai.

“…and Zuko will be performing next tonight!” Aang makes a sweeping gesture towards Zuko. “Accompanying him will be Sokka on Appa the ukulele! Give it up for Sokka and Zuko!”

Zuko gapes, and Sokka is momentarily at a loss for words. “Wait—Aang–“

Suki and Katara push him towards the improvised stage, and Sokka is resigned to his fate when he sees Iroh smiling and drinking tea at a table by himself. Iroh gives him a wink and a nod when he sees Sokka looking, which doesn’t help at all.

Sokka and Zuko haven’t even practiced anything recently, and Sokka has no idea what any of his new music sounds like. Playing with someone requires them to be in-sync, and Sokka has no idea whether he’s capable of doing that right now. Not after the news article and his stupid crush—not even crush, it’s _way_ worse than that. Zuko _is_ music and always has been—these past several weeks and the time Zuko was in Asia was awful because there was nobody to goof around with and send Twoset videos to, nobody to make stupid songs that’ll never see the light of a recording studio but are just _fun._

Without Zuko, Sokka was struggling because the music wasn’t the same— even though he might have improved on his improvisation skills and technique on his clarinet after performing and teaching full time for a year.

So it’s just Sokka and Zuko at Open-Mic Night, and Sokka glances around the audience to see Toph, some of Aang’s college friends, and someone he doesn’t recognize that looks like a hypebeast douchebag—dammit, it’s Jet Zi. Sokka pushes his irritation down to focus on the more pressing problem at hand—the music.

“What do you want to do?” Sokka hisses at Zuko.

Zuko’s eyes widen again, as if he’s surprised that Sokka is bothering to talk to him. “…Four chords,” he whispers after he recovers.

Sokka scrunches up his face. “What?”

“Hey, get a move on, we’re waiting down here!” Toph heckles from the audience.

“Like the Four Chord Song. In C.”

Oh. The basic-ass I-V-vi-IV chord progression that every pop song in history ever uses—the one he’s made fun of Zuko for also using in his most popular songs. Sokka nods, and he grins, catching Zuko’s eye. He could do this.

Zuko adjusts his guitar. “Want me to give you four bars?”

“No need.” _I can match you_ is what he hopes Zuko gets out of that. He knows Zuko well enough that he’s sure they’ll play in sync with something that simple, and Sokka gets in position to play his ukulele.

Is the stupidest thing he’s ever done? Possibly.

It _might_ even be dumber than the time he and Zuko made a meme music medley and performed it in front of Sokka’s entire high school. Might.

“This is a new song,” Zuko says to the small audience in full-on pop star mode. “I haven’t come up with a name yet, but I’m excited to premiere it at Open Mic Night tonight.”

When Zuko cues for them to start, Sokka starts playing, and it’s _easy._ Not just because the music is easy, but because it’s Zuko and he instinctively knows when Zuko needs a chord change or a more interesting rhythm. And then Zuko starts to sing, and Sokka can’t help but listen.

_Call me selfish, and I can’t let go_

_It’s clear as crystal that we’ve hurt each other_

_But I need you, and I need to know_

_If I were no one, would it be easier?_

Is Zuko…talking about _him_? Sokka doesn’t want to get his hopes up.

After hearing Zuko sing the verse about how he’s scared fame has made him shittier and harder to approach, and all Sokka wants to do is drop his ukulele, rush over, and give him a hug—because it isn’t true. Zuko is still Zuko, no matter how many people want a selfie of him.

Sokka shakes his head and keeps on playing, trying to keep his attention on staying on time and with Zuko and zoning out the lyrics, though he can still hear the longing in Zuko’s voice.

And then, as quickly as it started, it’s over, and Sokka exchanges a meaningful glance with Zuko, the first real conversation they’ve had in weeks. Toph and Aang whoop and cheer from the audience, and once Sokka finally comes to, Aang’s back, taking the mic from Zuko.

“Thanks, Zuko and Sokka! I teared up a little, Zuko, not going to lie...Sorry guys, but looks like we’ll have to end Open Mic Night early tonight. We have to, uh, do maintenance on the store, so see you all next week!”

People groan but start to file out as Aang and their other friends make them leave, and soon enough, it’s only the two of them and their instruments.

Sokka clears his throat awkwardly, and Zuko’s eyes narrow. “Hey, Zuko, I’m sorry that it’s my fault your name got dragged through the press again.“

“What are you talking about? I should have been more careful,” Zuko puts down his guitar on the guitar stand and faces Sokka. “This is my life now and has been for the last three years. Anything I do is blasted through the Internet at light speed, and if you don’t want to hang out with me anymore, I don’t blame you—not after they said we were probably dating.”

“What? No,” Sokka says. “Bro, I want to hang out with you. It’s just… the article wasn’t entirely wrong…”

“Mai told you, didn’t she? Or was it Azula?” Zuko groans.

“What’re you talking about?”

“Um, my very obvious crush on you?”

_Wait, what?_

“I was talking about me.” Sokka scratches the back of his neck. “You’re _so_ out of my league now that it isn’t funny. You’re hot, talented, funny, and famous, and when you came back, I knew I was screwed.”

Then what Zuko just said finally clicks, and _oh_ , maybe it didn’t matter that the magazines thought they were a couple—

“Hold on,” Sokka says. “You’re saying…you thought I was mad at you because the gossip rags said we were dating? And you…then why did you say you wanted to be friends?”

“…I really fucked up last time…not only that, but the last two weeks are just more proof—“

“The last two weeks were entirely my fault.” Sokka points at himself. “I was a shitty friend because I don’t know how not to like _like_ you in that full-homo way—“

Zuko laughs and groans. “You’ve _got_ to be kidding me.”

Sokka holds Appa out, and Zuko holds onto the neck of the ukulele, his hand touching Sokka’s for a brief second.

Sokka makes eye contact with Zuko’s eyes, which are blazing gold even in the dim mood lighting of the Jasmine Dragon. “So if I still like you and you still like me…do you want to try again? I promise I won’t keep things to myself and I’ve learned. The last two weeks sucked without you, and so did the year and a half you weren’t around. I don’t want you out of my life like that again.”

Zuko smiles. “I promise I won’t…I’ve learned from my mistakes and missed you and our music so much that you can count on me to stick around. I also promise that I’ll talk to you if I’m ever struggling, but…are you okay with being famous? I—I get if that’s a dealbreaker, I’m struggling to keep the media and fans away from my friends and family as-is.” His fingers tighten around the ukulele.

Sokka chuckles and waves dismissively with his free hand. “I don’t care what the media’ll say about me—I’m already getting messages on Twitter daily on how I’m the ultimate chad ever to live since I’m the nerd who supposedly bagged a pop star—“

“ _Oh my god._ ”

“—but none of them know that you’re actually the bigger nerd,” he finishes. “So as long as you’re willing to make it official that you’re off limits, I’m fine with it. I can lock down my social media or whatever—all of that’s less important than you.”

Clearly, he must have said the right thing, because Zuko loosens his grip and looks back into Sokka’s eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine with that. More than fine, actually.”

Zuko starts to lean in, so close that Sokka can see his long eyelashes, and then they’re kissing and, oh boy, Sokka has missed this. Holy shit, Zuko is _amazing_ at kissing—

And then the door slams open, and Toph throws confetti and glitter indiscriminately into the air, creating a mess in the process. She’s followed by their other friends, who are whooping and being embarrassing. Aang, in particular, is clapping and helping Toph glitter up the Jasmine Dragon, and when Zuko rolls his eyes and chuckles, Sokka can’t help but do the same.

Suki walks up to them and claps Sokka on the shoulder. “Finally! The pining was getting physically painful to watch.”

Sokka turns to see Iroh approach both of them. “I’m glad you two have learned the importance of being a team, and not just in music. _That_ is what is most important, Zuko and Sokka. Someday, looks may fade and you might be able to make music anymore, but you will still have each other.”

Sokka’s eyes flick between Iroh and Zuko. “Are you giving us, uh, marriage advice or something? Sir, I know you mean well, but I’m only twenty-four, and Katara said the average marriage age in the state is over thirty and even higher locally—”

“Just shut up,” Zuko says, face beet-red. “Please. Both of you.”

“I’ve already told your father, Sokka.” Iroh holds up his phone, snapping a picture of both of them and adding hearts using a stupidly cute filter. “He sends his regards.”

Indeed, when Sokka pulls out his phone, he has a text from his dad that says _what took you so long?_

Someone else walks up behind Sokka, and he turns to find Mr. Bad Fashion Hypebeast Extraordinaire, Jet Zi, nodding at him and Zuko.

“Glad to see you finally got your shit together, Zuko,” Jet says. “Nice to meet you too, Zuko’s Mystery Man.”

Jet smirks, and Sokka scowls at him. “Dude, that was uncalled for.”

“That’s what they’re calling you online,” Jet says. “I’ve read some _excellent_ fanfics. Screenshotted all the cringiest dialogue.”

Sokka secretly wants to know more, but he can’t let Jet know about when he used to read hundred-thousand word fics about Naruto and Sasuke and the epic canon fix-it fic for _Banana Fish_ pulled up on his phone (blame Katara and Suki for that, they cornered him into watching the show with him and then he got way too deep into it).

Jet holds up his phone. “ _Oh, Sokka, you are sweeter than all the Jolly Ranchers on the planet,_ ” he reads out loud before cackling at Sokka’s expression and walking away. “See you around, Sokka and Zuko, and I have to go. Meeting my Tinder match at a bar in the city.”

“Jolly Ranchers aren’t even sweet.” Zuko shakes his head. “You’re definitely sweeter than all them on the planet, Sokka.”

“Ugh, screw Jet. Jolly Ranchers, seriously? Hope you get catfished!” Sokka hollers at Jet, trying not to blush at what Zuko just said..

Zuko laughs, watches Jet go, and pulls Sokka closer to him. “I missed this.”

“Me too, buddy. Me too.”

***

**@zuko.lam**

**Open Mic Night**

[Photo: Confetti is sprinkled everywhere and Zuko’s hair is covered in confetti and glitter. Zuko is playing a ukulele labeled ‘Appa,’ and he’s smiling at someone off-camera. ]

Caption: Glitter was a pain to get out later but worth it

**350k Likes**

**Comments:**

**@tylee_zhang** cute!!!!! <33333

 **@azula_lam** finally, zuzu

***

**Zuko Lam Confirms Rumors about his Mystery Man**

In a surprising turn of events, Zuko Lam, who has been protective of his family and friends’ privacy in the past, has taken to his old YouTube channel to talk directly to his fans. The video is simply titled “I’m back” and is the first new content Zuko’s posted there in years.

“This is the first time all of you have seen him on screen and have been introduced to him for real, but without Sokka, this channel would not have existed in the first place,” Zuko said on-video. “He was the first person I wrote music with and helped produce many of my most popular covers on this channel. I have plans to post some more casual stuff and jazz here soon, and I wanted to introduce Sokka since he’s behind a lot of it.”

To which Sokka said, “Dude, you give me _way_ too much credit,” and looked adorably embarrassed, endearing him immediately to the Internet, which is calling Sokka the most wholesome and adorable nerd ever.

Zuko went on to tell fans to respect Sokka’s privacy. At this point, some fans were still in denial and thought they must be only friends and collaborators, but if you watch until the end of the video and through the bloopers, you’ll see Sokka jokingly call Zuko his ‘blue spirit,’ an obvious nod to his first album, and then they almost kiss on-screen but it cuts there and is replaced with a screen that says ‘cut because they’re nasty and too gay to function.’

Unverified rumors say that Sokka’s social media accounts are now also being monitored by Zuko’s PR manager as a consequence of his Twitter follower count increasing by tens of thousands in a short span of time. He has also become more active, posting about linguistics research, promoting music by Native American and Indigenous musicians, making bad puns in Mandarin, and fanboying about Taylor Swift.

***

_8.)_ ~~_Don’t_ ~~ _let him find out about your Taylor phase at karaoke six months later._

“ _Wo yao ni de aiiiiii,_ ” Sokka belts out into the mic, stretching out the final syllable as long as it’ll go. He points, winks, and blows a kiss at Zuko, who rolls his eyes and blushes.

Toph mimes throwing up. “I can’t see you, but I know you’re being gross, Sokka.”

“I think it’s cute.” Aang takes a sip from his boba, watching Iroh and Hakoda set up another mahjong game. Joining them is Lu Ten, who’s back from working in Hong Kong and is giving both Iroh, Hakoda, and even Azula a run for their money in mahjong.

“Yeah, Zuko,” Lu Ten says, patting Zuko on the head. “Sokka wants _all your love_ —“

“For the love of all that is good and holy, will you please stop?” Zuko’s face is the scarlet shade of his scar.

For unknown reasons, the entire Gaang got invited to an impromptu Lam family reunion of sorts at the Jasmine Dragon, and Iroh let them make an impromptu karaoke machine using YouTube and an old projector they dug up in a closet to celebrate.

Azula smirks wickedly. “Zuzu, you should do a duet with Sokka. Show off your singing prowess.”

“You should!” Ty Lee says, finishing up a cartwheel and giving Zuko a big thumbs up. “Sokka spent a whole year listening to Taylor Swift breakup songs while you were gone—“

Sokka rushes over to try shushing her, but she’s still giggling. “Do. _Not._ Mention. The. Taylor.”

“I still have ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ stuck in my head _all the time_ ,” Mai says. “He’d sing it every damn day while doing the dishes.”

“Oh, I know.” Katara looks disapprovingly at Sokka. “Every time he’d give me a ride in his car it’d be all Taylor, all the time.”

Zuko covers his mouth to cover his laughter, and Ty Lee and Aang start chanting for them to sing Taylor Swift.

“Fine,” Zuko says after he recovers. “I’m picking the song, though.”

Sokka watches over his shoulder as Zuko pulls up a YouTube video for the karaoke version of “Me!” and laughs in startled surprise.

“You can sing Brandon Urie’s part.” Zuko grabs the second mic.

“Hell yeah,” Sokka says. “Didn’t you have a crush on him in middle school—“

“Don’t bring that up, or else I’m breaking up with you for real.” Zuko groans, turning on the mic and pressing play.

As Zuko starts singing about Sokka’s not going to find someone else like him, voice rough like velvet yet smooth as honey, Sokka can’t help but think that it’s true — there really is nobody else like Zuko. They’ve started posting more casual music and just the two of them playing jazz onto Zuko’s YouTube, and his fans, for some reason, seem to like watching the two of them jam together a lot. Sokka’s lost track of the number of comments talking about how adorable they are together and how people wish Sokka and Zuko would go on tour together.

Sure, they’re stumbling and muddling their way through life and navigating Sokka’s newfound D-list celebrity status, but just like in music, they’re doing it better as a team. More than even the invite to be Zuko’s plus-one to the Grammys, _that’s_ what matters.

And even though Sokka almost misses his cue to start singing Panic’s part and Zuko glares at him, when they’re both singing at the top of their lungs, it doesn’t sound half-bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments/kudos if you enjoyed or also enjoy singing along to taylor swift!!
> 
> Again, art can be found at <https://srl541.tumblr.com/post/633180509430775808/video-description-a-short-lyric-video-length> and music here at <https://srl541.tumblr.com/post/633180509430775808/video-description-a-short-lyric-video-length>! Please show scarlet and belle all your love, they deserve it!
> 
> You can catch me on social media on tumblr <https://bittermoonswrites.tumblr.com> and on  
> twitter <https://twitter.com/bittermoonss>!
> 
> Again, shoutout to my crew: [Scarlet](srl541.tumblr.com) and [belle](pikachica.tumblr.com) for contributing wonderful art and music! Thanks to my betas [eliza](rel=), [isa](warriorcrazy.tumblr.com), and [lucy](houser-of-stories.tumblr.com) for helping me find awkwardness and dumb typos. thanks also to shen/[aiyah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiyah/pseuds/aiyah) for being so kind and letting me borrow jet’s and suki’s last names!
> 
> Shoutout to Bird ([my_head_is_underwater on ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheadisunderwater)) for helping me with the cantonese bits! You're the best!
> 
> Real songs mentioned in this fic:
> 
> “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Me!” —all Taylor Swift
> 
> “Low”—Flo-Rida and T-Pain 
> 
> “Wo Yao Ni De Ai (I Want Your Love - I Want You To Be My Baby)” — Grace Chang
> 
> About the surnames: I made Sokka Alaska Native, specifically Yupik, for the purposes of this fic, and you would not believe how little the Internet has on the Yupik language. Ayuluk is a real Yupik surname too haha.
> 
> Why I gave Zuko and Azula the surname Lam is because they speak Cantonese and Lam is a real Cantonese surname that's fairly common in real life. It didn't end up coming up in this fic but I also made their family Chinese-Japanese—Lu Ten and Ozai grew up mostly in Japan but their family was from Hong Kong originally—to reflect their canon confusing names (Lu Ten is a very Chinese name but Azula/Azulon not as much lol) and the equivalent of Lam in Japanese is Hayashi (same kanji as Lam but different pronounciation in Japanese), which is also a real last name in Japan and is also fairly common. I don't think Zuko would speak great Japanese either, which Sokka can also make fun of him for XD 
> 
> In this universe, I HC Zuko and Azula use Hokkien as their secret gossip language! Everyone needs one :)
> 
> Some of my more eagle-eyed readers may have caught that this fic was secretly a BNHA crossover all along! The dancer Azula was talking about is Dabi and the Anime Expo friend in the very first interview is Shouto Todoroki. They're both from my BNHA fic [not the only one (with music in your ears).](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22513546/chapters/53796583) If you enjoyed the style this fic is told in with the news snippets, please check it out! I love this universe a lot and think that Sokka and Shouto Todoroki would nerd out together eventually.


End file.
